Serving African American Children

Abstract

Serving American was initiated to present an American perspective on child welfare issues affecting American children. The chapters in this volume challenge the child welfare community to ensure that all American children receive protection, nurturing, and an improved quality of life; to create and sustain mutual communication and support through program development; to ensure that American consultants are involved in the evaluation of agencies where American populations represent a significant proportion of the service population; and to increase American leadership through education and training opportunities in preparation for executive level positions. Major chapters and contributors to Serving American include: Family Preservation and Support Services: Missed Opportunity for Kinship Care by Julia Danzy and Sondra M. Jackson; Achieving Same-Race Adoptive Placements for American Children by Ruth G. McRoy, Zena Oglesby, and Helen Grape; African American Families and HIV/AIDS: Caring for Surviving Children by Alma J. Carten and Ilene Fennoy; A Rite of Passage Approach Designed to Preserve the Families of Substance-Abusing American Women by Vanesta L. Poitier, Makini Niliwaambieni, and Cyprian Lamar Rowe; and An Afrocentric Program for American Males in the Juvenile Justice System by Aminifu R. Harvey and Antoinette A. Coleman. The chapters reflect a variety of policy, research, and practice issues; clinical techniques and treatment models; and new perspectives in child welfare. The theme that runs throughout each chapter is the grave concern about the overrepresentation of American children and families in the child welfare system, and about the limited--if not missing--influence of the American perspective on policy and practice. Serving American is a book of vital importance and should be read by all social workers, sociologists, American studies specialists, and professionals in the field of child welfare.